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Thursday, September 25, 2014

Vatican City, 25 September 2014 (VIS) –
The eighth meeting of the Joint International Commission for dialogue
between the Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church was held in
Amman, Jordan from 15 to 23 September. It was hosted by the Greek
Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Theophilos III, and
attended by His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan
who participated in the plenary session held on the afternoon of
Monday, 22 September. The meeting was attended by twenty-three
members representing the Catholic Church and all the Orthodox
Churches, with the exception of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria. The
meetings were chaired by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and by the
Metropolitan of Pergamon Ioannis (Zizioulas) of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate.

On the first day of the meeting, as is
customary, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox members met separately to
coordinate their work and to discuss, among other things, the draft
text of the document “Synodality and Primacy”, drawn up by the
Coordinating Committee in 2012 during the two meetings held in Rome
in 2011 and Paris in 2012. Because of the many questions raised about
the text, the Commission proposed the drafting of a new one, to be
referred to the next Coordinating Committee for further elaboration
and improvement, in view of the next plenary session of the Joint
Commission.

The Commission members, assembled near
the holy sites connected with the baptism of Jesus Christ, united
their voices to express their deep concern for and solidarity with
the Christians and members of other religious traditions of this
entire region who are being persecuted, displaced and murdered. They
categorically rejected the idea that such horrifying crimes can be
justified in the name of God or of religion, and expressed their
profound gratitude to all those engaged in bringing relief to
millions of refugees and displaced persons. Furthermore, they prayed
for all the religious leaders of the region, so that they might
continue to comfort their people and keep alive their vision of their
return to their lands and homes, which in recent times have been
occupied and often profaned. The Commission implored the
international community to listen seriously to those leaders
regarding the most useful ways to intervene and protect those who are
being persecuted, and to ensure the continuing vital presence of
Christianity in the Middle East. They also launched a fresh appeal
for the liberation of the Metropolitans of Aleppo, Mar Gregorios
Yohanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, and all others who have been
kidnapped, including priests and religious.

The meeting of the Joint Commission was
marked by a spirit of friendship and trustful collaboration. The
members greatly appreciated the generous hospitality of the host
Church, and they strongly commend the continuing work of the dialogue
to the prayers of the faithful.